The 66th Republic Day was celebrated under the auspices of the East Coast Railway (ECoR) at the Railway Stadium, Mancheswar here, with ECoR General Manager Rajiv Vishnoi unfurling the National Flag and taking the ceremonial salute from a large contingent of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Bharat Scouts & Guides and schoolchildren.
Vishnoi conveyed his best wishes to the Railway employees and their family members and rail users on this occasion. He also congratulated railway staff for making creditable achievements possible against all odds. Stating that emphasis has been given to expedite infrastructural works, Vishnoi informed that new line from Khordha Road to Begunia of Khordha Road-Bolangir rail line project, doubling between Rengali-lapanga section of the Jharsugda-Rengali doubling project, Delang-Sakshigopal section of Delang-Puri doubling and Kantakapalli-Alamanda section of Vizianagaram-Kottavalasa 3rd line work were completed.
Claiming that performance achieved by the ECoR in the last fiscal was best among all railway zones, Vishnoi said the zone has already loaded 118.76 mn tonnes of freight, 9.5 per cent more than the last year, and carried 66.94 mn passengers registering a growth of 1.55 per cent. Similarly, ECoR’s total earnings upto Dec’14 stood at Rs9909.24 crore, which is 11.3 per cent more that the last year, he informed.
He said safety, security, better passenger amenities and passenger service would remain to be emphasised as priority and mission items. A colourful cultural programme was presented by schoolchildren and Bharat Scouts & Guides to mark the occasion. Among others, ECoR Women’s Welfare Organisation president Shalini Vishnoi and heads of various ECoR departments were present.